Can Dundar may face prosecution under article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code that criminalizes "insulting the president" with a punishment of up to 4 years imprisonment.
In January 2015, Dundar was interviewed by Turkish ex-general prosecutor Celal Kara who was in charge of an investigation into corruption scandals that implicated high-ranking officials and businessmen from Erdogan's inner circle back in 2014.
According to human rights watchdogs, article 299 is often used in Turkey as a method of crowding out the opposition. On February 13, 2015, political activist Onur Kilic was detained for "insulting the president" during a protest the month before. On February 16, 2015 Amnesty International released a statement condemning the prosecution of Kilic on the grounds of "insulting the president".
